Towards a Systematic Development Process of Optimization Methods

TL;DR

This paper discusses a systematic approach to developing optimization methods, emphasizing team collaboration, communication, and tools like checklists and knowledge databases to improve project success.

Contribution

It introduces a structured process for optimization method development focusing on communication and knowledge sharing among experts.

Findings

Tools like checklists improve communication efficiency.

Knowledge databases facilitate better collaboration.

The approach is applicable beyond optimization.

Abstract

The ultimate goal of all optimization methods is to solve real-world problems. For a successful project execution, knowledge about optimization and the application has to be pooled. As it is too inefficient to highly train one person in both fields, a team of experts is usually put together. Unfortunately, communication errors must be expected when several people collaborate. In this work, we deal with the avoidance and the repair of these communication errors. The tools proposed in this regard are, among others, the algorithm engineering cycle, checklists for structuring communication, and knowledge databases. The discussion is enriched with examples from continuous optimization, but most tools have a much wider applicability, even beyond optimization.